Officials visited Haymarket to thank riders and workers who made unprecedented results possible

Boston - On November 8, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng visited Haymarket station to thank riders for their patience and the MBTA workforce for their work to eliminate slow zones on the Orange Line as part of the Track Improvement Program. The Orange Line is now free of speed restrictions for the first time in nearly 15 years. 

“General Manager Eng and his team came in with a promise to remove speed restrictions this year – and they are delivering. For the first time in 15 years, the Orange Line is completely free of slow zones, resulting in faster, more reliable service for tens of thousands of riders. And they’re on track to lift all remaining slow zones across the system in the coming weeks,” said Governor Maura Healey. “This work gives riders back time in their day to spend with friends and family, be less rushed at breakfast or dinner, or take the dog for another walk before it gets dark at 4:30 pm. It’s also good for our economy, making sure people can get to work on time and delivering on our promise to have a world class public transportation system. I’m grateful for the MBTA workers who made this possible and for the patience of riders who share our desire for safer, more reliable T service.” 

“Under General Manager Eng and thanks to the hard work of hundreds of dedicated MBTA employees, the T is delivering unprecedented levels of productivity when it comes to improving the system’s tracks. And riders are experiencing the benefits first hand,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Our administration is proud to be delivering record funding to the T to support this important work, and we look forward to continuing to work together to improve transportation infrastructure across our state.” 

“We personally wanted to meet and thank our riders face-to-face to express our deep appreciation for their patience during the work which interrupted their rides on Orange Line trains,” said Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt.  “Our customers have been the best partners ever in realizing that these projects are essential and that working 24/7 without interruption is the most efficient way to address maintenance needs and leads to service which is safer, faster, and more reliable.”  

“Our riders deserve safe, reliable, and more frequent service, and last year, we made a commitment to deliver that. With strong support and leadership from Governor Healey’s Administration, we have been rebuilding our workforce so they can rebuild our infrastructure. With the Orange Line now restriction-free for the first time in 15 years and the MBTA at the goal line to make the entire subway system restriction-free, we have increased the number of trains, decreased wait times, and reduced travel time for our riders across our heavy and light rail lines,” said General Manager Eng. “We know we have so much more to do to maintain the system long-term as we build a better T – one that the public can be proud of. I thank our existing riders that depend on mass transportation and look forward to welcoming new riders by making the T the preferred way to travel. I’m privileged to work alongside a proud workforce along with our industry partners as we continue to build upon this progress, tackling daily challenges head-on, and working together efficiently and effectively to fulfill our commitments to the public we serve.” 

The Orange Line is now completely free of all speed restrictions for the first time since 2010. Slow zones now affect less than 1 percent of the entire subway system over less than a mile of track, compared to one year ago when they were affecting nearly 26 percent of the system over 35 miles of track. As of this week, the Orange Line is operating almost 18 minutes faster roundtrip when compared to travel times on September 1, 2023, just before the Track Improvement Program launched.  

Governor Healey, Secretary Tibbitts-Nutt, and General Manager Eng handed out stickers to riders as a small token of thanks for their patience during multi-day service suspensions and shuttle bus replacements. Workers from multiple internal departments involved in the successful planning, coordination, and completion of this critical work, including the Track Improvement Program team, Maintenance of Way, Capital Delivery, Alternate Service Planning, and others, were thanked by Healey, Tibbitts-Nutt, and Eng for their dedication and commitment to accomplishing this challenging and often complicated improvement work.  

The MBTA has removed over 200 speed restrictions to date since the launch of the Track Improvement Program with only about a mile of track remains under restriction. The MBTA is on schedule to be restriction-free by the end of the year.?